SMOKE on the WATER...AMSTERDAM ???

People close to me know that my wife and I rarely go out. I like to hike in Mill Creek Paradise, but my wife and I prefer to hang out at home on the week end...I, in my SpongeBob jammy bottoms and a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt that Lucky Penny gifted to me, years ago.Saturday eve was different. Last week, Dayna Shaw-Sear was on the show. Dayna is the Executive Director of WaterFire Sharon. After speaking with her, I was certain that I wanted to go with my wife to the event.

We parked and began to walk around . On the bridge we encounter dueling drummers, a guy with a rescued Afghan dog, and then AND THEN, through the crowd I saw HIM ...PETER HOUSTON MILLIKEN the III AND MARY ! Now I KNEW I was where I should be - if ANYONE does their homework, it's Peter !

We walked a bit then found a great niche to watch the WaterFire show - a secluded spot under a bridge. We were enjoying the music, the sun was setting , we awaited the fire show. A few young people, self-identified 'rednecks' asked if we could see from where we were. We answered in the affirmative then they asked " is there room for us?" Well, at that point "us" appeared to be 2 or 3 people. As they made their way toward our spot, we realized there were 8 of them. I helped them in. These self-proclaimed 'rednecks' turned out to be extremely nice and a lot of fun. A few are young parents,one is a nursing student,one a punk musician, another a dancer that hopes to perform with fiery hula hoops at the next WaterFire and ALL VERY POLITE...MANNERLY ! One young man actually helped my wife up and out as he used his flashlight to illuminate her path. They even invited us to an upcoming 'mudding' party ! We seemed to quickly bond with these young folks. They added much enjoyment to our evening. Thank YOU: Joey, Lynn, Mario, Tony, Ashlee, Don, Jeremy & Amy.

As the crowd thinned out, I walked along the river holding my wife close, listening to the music and the crackling of the fire pits, the aroma of the burning embers wafting through the air, watching the glow of the flames reflected in the water and wondered, was THIS Sharon,Pennsylvania or a romantic evening in Amsterdam ?